


The Grass is Always Greener

by CrushingOnSans



Series: COSOS Stuff [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Apathy, Cherryberry - Freeform, Fellcest - Freeform, Fontcest, Heartbreak, Incest, Kedgeup, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, alcohol use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:52:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8944372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrushingOnSans/pseuds/CrushingOnSans
Summary: In Undertale, Classic Sans loves his brother more than anything. Its the same for so many versions of himself. However, they can never receive that love back because every time it resets, Papyrus forgets everything. In UnderFell, the brothers found their love for each other long before the resets started. Red wakes up every reset in his brothers arms, and there are so many versions of him that are jealous of his...success
  Abandoned





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This fic comes from my One-shot Collection, I am adapting the Grass is Greener one-shots into something that actually resembles a real story. So most of this is already written, I'm just having to tweak a few things here and there and I'm adding a few chapters so that we get a better look into those events! It will have the same ending though, so don't expect anything different from that!

The Great and Terrible Papyrus drooled in his sleep. Sans could remember a time when that had been the funniest thing he had ever seen. The first time he had fallen asleep next to his brother, only to wake up in a small puddle, he had woken Papyrus up with his laughter.

Sans stood in the doorway, remembering that moment, and he frowned. When had he lost that? Which reset had it been, the first time he woke up next to a drooling Papyrus, that he hadn't found any joy in it?

He watched his brother quietly, waiting for him to wake up. He had stood in this doorway countless times. He knew exactly when Papyrus's eyes would blink open, and he knew exactly what would happen if he stayed in the bed next to him when that happened. He couldn't remember exactly when he had stopped wanting that, but it had been a lot of resets since he had started standing in the doorway to avoid it.

Papyrus stirred slightly, like he always did, then he opened his eyes. He looked around blearily for sans and when he saw him, he smiled brightly. There wasn't much to smile about in this world. It used to mean everything Sans that all it took was the sight of him for his brother to be happy. Now, it just hurt.

"Sans," Papyrus said tiredly, still smiling. He sat up slowly, stretching. His bare ribs gleaned in the light, his numerous scars standing out in stark contrast from the smooth areas of bone.

Sans couldn't even find it in himself to smile back. He couldn't take this anymore. He couldn't take his brother loving him like this when he hadn't felt the same in what felt like years. He had never been able to find it in himself to break his brothers heart. He still loved him, more than anything. Just...not like that. Not anymore.

Sans sighed heavily, rubbing his eye sockets. Then he forced a smile onto his face. "Hey, Boss. Sleep well?" he asked. His voice sounded too high, false and pained.

Papyrus looked at him for a moment, confusion evident on his face. "Yeah...yeah, I slept fine. Sans...are you okay?"

Sans couldn't get himself to make eye contact. He looked at his feet. How could he even be considering this? He couldn't do this to his brother. He couldn't take any small amount of happiness away from him.

"Yeah, Boss. I'm great. I'm gonna go make breakfast."

He turned on his heel and blipped down to the kitchen, still unable to look Papyrus in the face.

He braced himself up against the counter and took a few heaving breaths. He couldn't do this, he couldn't pretend anymore, he couldn't do this anymore, but how could he not, he had to keep doing this, it would be okay, it was just a relationship, it's fine, he could do this, no he couldn't, that was his brother, what had he been thinking?

Sans closed his eyes, still leaning up against the counter. He had done this exact thing so many times now. He had gotten so close, so close to ending it, to taking away Papyrus's smile. How could he be so selfish? He still loved his brother, he didn't want to hurt him. He would give anything not to have to hurt him.

Including his own happiness? Without a doubt.

But Sans was so tired. Reset after reset, falling out of love so slowly, repeating the same few days over and over and over again. Nothing was ever new unless Sans made it so. Nothing was ever different.

He was just so tired.

He heard Papyrus coming down the stairs a few moments later, and hurriedly pulled out some food. He poured cereal into bowls and added milk as his brother came into the room.

"Wow. Impressive cooking skills. This is practically a gourmet meal. How do you do it?" Came the somewhat sarcastic voice from behind him.

Normally, Sans would turn and he would force a grin and he would respond with some stupid pun about breakfast. He turned, but he couldn't get himself to smile, to joke. Instead, to his horror, his eyes filled with tears. He spun back around, clutching to the counter again.

He heard Papyrus cross the room quickly, felt his arms wrap around him from behind.

"Sans, what the fuck is going on? You are not okay. Please, tell me what's wrong and how I can help you."

Sans was still crying, and now he was shaking too. How could he have ever loved this so much? The feel of his brothers arms around him felt too intimate, too loving in all the wrong ways. It left him feeling vaguely ill.

He felt Papyrus's fingers on his cheekbone, turning hus head, and then he was kissing him.

Sans couldn't help his reaction. He jumped sideways, away from the kiss, away from his brother's embrace. He backed away, into a wall, hands out in front of him in a position of surrender.

"Please... Please don't..." The sound of his own voice shocked him. He sounded so weak, weaker than he had heard himself sound since they were children, starving in the streets of the Capitol. "Boss...please....I can't do this"

Papyrus looked as though he wanted to cross the room and comfort him, but he wasn't sure how. "Sans?"

How could he do this? How could he possibly do this to the person he loved most in the world? The look on his face hurt, it physically hurt, but now that he had started, he couldn't seem to stop going.

"I can't do this anymore. I can't keep pretending!" That was the wrong thing to say. Papyrus looked absolutely crushed. "Aw, hell, Boss, I don't mean--i mean, it doesn't make any sense to you, know, but I loved you yesterday. I did, I really did, but I just...I can't...I don't want to be with you like that, Boss. I just can't be with you like that anymore, it's killin' me!"

Papyrus stumbled slightly, gripping onto the same counter that Sans had just been using to prop himself up. "I..." His voice sounded too thick, like he was holding back tears, and he was looking at Sans like he had never seen him before. "Did I do something wrong?" He whispered.

Sans wanted more than anything to walk forward and wrap his arms around him, to comfort him as a brother, to do anything to make him feel better, to take it back and see that smile again. But he couldn't.

"No, no, of course not, Boss. Of course not. You're amazin'. I just...we're brothers! I mean, what the fuck are we doin'?" He didn't know how to do this, he didn't know the right things to say, if there even was a right thing to say. "Boss, I'm so sorry."

Damn it, he was crying. He hadn't seen Papyrus cry since he was shorter than him, he didn't know how to deal with this. Anything he did was likely to make it worse.

"D-dont...Don't be s-sorry. Im g-glad you could be h-honest with m-me" Papyrus sobbed. Sans had never seen him like this. Never. Papyrus just didn't cry, he didn't show weakness, hell, he barely even had emotions.

Papyrus stood straight, fixing his already impeccable gloves and scarf. "i-i don't think I'm g-going to have breakfast this m-morning. I have to get to w-work" he mumbled, still crying as he rushed from the room.

Sans knew he would never betray his weaknesses to the monsters that lived outside their home and sure enough, instead of the sound of the door opening, there was a thump that Sans was pretty sure signified that Papyrus had thrown his back against the wall just outside the kitchen door. He could still hear the soft sounds of his crying, and a feeling curdled in his nonexistent stomach. Shame.

 

The next few days, as much as Sans hated to admit it, were wonderful. Papyrus was actively avoiding him, which, while it hurt his soul to think about, also meant that he didn't have to doge hugs and kisses and cuddles from his little brother. Sans had never felt so free, but he had also never felt so guilty. 

He hadn't seen Papyrus smile since that morning. 

On the seventh day, Sans went upstairs slowly, exhausted beyond belief. He collapsed into bed, falling asleep within moments, trying to avoid the thoughts of the fight that hadn't killed him, but had drained him so completely...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Sans woke up, he was warm. He didn't remember putting a blanket on, but he could feel one shifting against his bones. Maybe, Sans thought, full of hope, Papyrus was on his way to forgiving him. Maybe he had come and put a blanket over him. Maybe he was worried about him. Sans rolled over. This was so comfortable. He had missed the feeling of a soft bed.

Wait.

A soft bed?

Sans' eyes shot open and he sat up quickly, looking around. He was in Papyrus's room. He looked over, and, sure enough, his brother was in the bed beside him.

He looked down at himself. His bare bones were catching and reflecting the morning light.

Sans's quick awakening seemed to have roused his brother. Papyrus blinked his eyes open blearily, looking around in sleepy confusion until he saw Sans looking at him.

As soon as they made eye contact, Papyrus's eyes filled with love and hope and happiness such that could barely be found elsewhere in the underground.

And then, something that should have been mundane happened. Something that Sans hadn't seen since he had given into his selfishness.

Papyrus smiled.


	2. Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy look a brand-new chapter! The rest should be out fairly quickly, but these next two chapters have to be written almost entirely from scratch, just like this one, but after that we get into the parts that I'm not going to change much. This won't have an update schedule, but I would expect the whole thing to be done here pretty soon and I'll post as soon as I finish stuff.

The laugh of a child, the slash of a knife, crushing blackness, and then...  
Sans woke up slowly, as he usually did. There was no need to open his eyes. He knew what day it was, what time it was, what was going to happen. Everything was so predictable when it happened so many times in a row. It was warm in the room, like it always was. Not stifling, just pleasantly warm in a way that made him want to roll over under the sheets and just fall right back to sleep. There used to be a lot of resets where he had done exactly that, but he didn’t want to be this close to his bedmate for any longer than he absolutely had to.  
He rolled out of bed and picked up the same clothes he always did, immediately blipping out of the room and into the kitchen. He grabbed a piece of toast and then went straight to his sentry station, scarfing down the toast while he was still in the middle of the shortcut.   
He sat down heavily, propping his feet up and leaning back in his chair, relaxing back and taking his job about as seriously as he always did.   
He was suddenly interrupted from his doze by the loud crack of magic behind him. Sans jumped very suddenly, almost falling out of his chair, before spinning around to look behind him.  
Every reset was the same. Every word, every movement, every single tiny conversation. The only thing that could ever change them was Sans, and lately, he'd stopped caring enough to say anything different than he was supposed to.   
This had definitely never happened before.  
Sans was so caught up in trying to figure out the newness of the situation that he almost didn’t recognize the portal for what it was. It looked a little bit like what he imagined the tail-end of his shortcuts must look like and sure enough, he saw himself step out of the little tear in space. Except...that wasn’t quite him. He would certainly never get caught dead in that stupid getup. He was wearing some sort of armor costume, almost a bright blue mockery of what Papyrus usually traipsed around in.   
This little... dingus version of him stepped out of the portal looking for all the world as though he were actually happy to be here. Weird little guy.   
He didn’t seem to notice Sans, and gestured behind him, as though telling more people to follow, and sure enough, after him stepped a slightly taller and thinner skeleton that also had his face, dressed in about five different layers of clothing with a paintbrush slung across his back. He looked around carefully, and when he noticed Sans, still sitting at his sentry station, recognition crossed his features.   
“Comic,” Sans could hear him say, “We’re definitely going to need your help out here. And grab Razz and a few of the others, too.”  
A moment later, another skeleton in a blue hoodie and pink slippers hopped through, followed by a couple of others. All with Sans’s face.  
Sans hadn’t moved from his reclined position, choosing instead to just keep his one working eyelight trained on the new arrivals. Yeah, this was certainly new. But what did new even feel like? How was one expected to react to something new? Red had no idea, so he opted to take the easy route. He sat at his station and watched. He watched as these costumed clones waltzed in like they owned the place. He watched as the dingus version of him bounced up and down happily. He watched as several of the clones approached him carefully. He watched as they checked him. And then, he reacted.  
In the split second it took him to shortcut over to the others, he had already summoned four Gaster Blasters, which he trained on several of the more threatening-looking versions of himself.   
“Who the fuck are you and how did you get here?” he growled. He had transported directly in front of the one with the paintbrush, feeling the quiet power that practically radiated from him and pegging him as the leader of this group.   
The other just regarded him calmly, despite the murderous intent that Sans was purposely pushing in the other’s direction. “My name is Ink,” he said, “And we are here to talk to you. Peacefully.”  
“Peacefully?” Sans asked, scoffing. There was no such thing as ‘peacefully’. His blasters began to charge, the whine of the magic gathering in their fanged maws growing louder by the second.   
“Hey, calm down, buddy. Some of us only have 1 HP,” drawled the one in the blue hoodie. Sans spared him a glance, and noticed that despite his words, the other didn’t exactly look panicked. He hadn’t even taken his hands out of his pockets.   
“I’m not your buddy, fucker,” Sans growled, then he fired all four blasters at once, blipping backwards at the same time to avoid the one he had aimed at Ink.  
Several things happened at once. The dingus version of himself was hit full-force with the blast, collapsing to the ground with a cry of pain. The hoodie-wearing fucker vanished from existence, leaving the blast to scorch the ground where he had just been. A version of himself that was dressed in almost an exact copy of Papyrus’s armor pushed another version of himself that was dressed all in white except for a red scarf around his neck out of the way of the blast that had been aimed at him, appearing to singe his arm in the process. He pulled back quickly, hissing in pain.  
Sans stared at the place where he had directed his final blaster. Ink didn’t look as though a damn thing had happened to him. His clothes weren’t even singed. Welp. Looks like he had been right in his assessment of the amount of power that one had. Sans growled and started to summon a new round of blasters when something wrapped around his neck and pulled back forcibly. Automatically, Sans started to fight back, only to feel his soul turned blue and gravity magic hold him in place.   
“Blue, Razz, are you okay?” asked someone from directly behind Sans.  
“I’m fine!” growled the one with the singed arm, “Check on Blue, Dream”  
Blue sat up slowly, then stood with the help of the one in pastels with the golden circlet on his head. “I’m alright,” he said softly, rubbing at his ribs, “I lost less than half of my HP.”  
“Good. Not sure I ever introduced myself, by the way,” said the voice from behind him. Sans now recognized it to be the voice of the asshole that had shortcutted away. “The name’s Comic”  
“That’s a stupid-ass name” Sans growled, struggling against the blue magic’s hold.  
“Hey, buddy, I don’t really care if you like my name. I like it, that’s why I chose it.”  
“You chose it? Why the fuck would you--”  
“Will you two stop it?” sighed Ink, directing a few of the others to help Comic hold Sans down. “We have some things to explain to you, Sans, and we need you to listen.”  
Sans tried to pull the blue magic away from his soul one more time before giving up with a sigh. Whatever. If he got dusted, he’d just wake up in bed with his brother again. Nothing ever actually changed, right? A mirthless chuckle tried to work its way out of his mouth before he clamped it down tight, choosing instead to ask, “How the hell do you know my name?”  
“Pretty fucking easily, asshole,” snarked Razz. “We are you.”  
Sans just stared at them. Okay. Maybe the only new thing that was happening here was that he had finally lost his mind.  
“Razz, please. Peacefully,” said Ink with a touch of annoyance in his tone. Then he turned back to Sans. “What do you know about the multiverse?”  
And with that, they launched into an explanation about how they were the versions of him from other universes, and how, together, they had been searching out as many worlds as they could, to pull as many people out of their repeating loops as they could.  
“Wow, so I suppose you’re my knights in shitty armor, then,” Sans grumbled, gesturing vaguely at Blue, who looked affronted.   
“My armor is not--,” he huffed, but he was cut off by Comic, who grinned from his reclining position next to Sans and said, “only if that makes you our damsel in distress, there, Edgelord.”  
Sans couldn’t even flip him off because of the combined gravity magic that was holding him down, but he shot him a glare that he hoped conveyed the pain the other was going to experience when he managed to get free.   
“Will you guys please stop responding to him and let me explain? He’s from a Fell world, you’re just encouraging him,” Ink said calmly, despite the annoyed glint in his eyes.   
Sans grinned at Comic. “Yeah, Slippers. Stop responding, it’s just gonna encourage me.”  
Comic, seemingly uncaring, just closed his eyes and looked for all the world like he was dozing, despite the fact that the gravity magic around Sans’s soul didn’t dissipate in the slightest.   
Ink kept talking, explaining that they would come back every reset and get to know him, and when it was decided that he would be able to handle it, he would be allowed access to the rest of the multiverse.  
“For now, though, we need to leave,” said Ink, gesturing at the others, who began to trickle back through the portal. “Your world has to be adjusted slowly to multidimensional visitors, or else it’s going to cause some problems with your code. We will be back next reset, so please prepare yourself for that. If you fight again, you will be restrained.”  
Soon, only Ink and Comic were left, and Comic stood and stretched, his vertabrae popping, before starting to make his way to the portal.  
“Wait!” Sans called, “Are you just going to leave my soul blue? I can’t move like this!”  
Comic looked back and grinned. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll go away when I leave the universe. I’m not quite powerful enough to maintain magic over that kind of a distance.”  
Then he stepped back slightly and made a wide gesture with both arms towards Ink. “After you, sir.”  
Ink made a face. “Don’t call me sir, Comic. That’s just weird, coming out of your mouth.”  
“Eh, most things are weird that come out of my--” Comic’s next words were cut off by the portal shutting behind them.   
Sans collapsed to the ground. The blue magic was gone, true to Comic’s word. Red stared at the place where they had disappeared.   
That had to have been one hell of an acid trip or something, right? Sans had just been stuck in the same loop for such a long time that in an attempt to keep him from losing it, his mind had invented something different.   
He stood up slowly, rubbing at his chest absentmindedly as he checked his watch. Papyrus would come check on him in a few minutes. Time to go on a patrol.


	3. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are little chunks of story that I left you to fill in yourself here. The point of this story isn't the adventures that take place in this chapter, but they are necessary to show you how Red's life is beginning to change.
> 
> Speaking of which, if you see anywhere where I accidentally call Comic "Sans" or Sans "Red" when he isn't supposed to be, it's because I apparently can't call them by anything but those names. Seriously, like every time I would write a paragraph, I would have to go back and fix all the names.
> 
> And in case it isn't obvious, every time they do the whole "slash of a knife, laugh of a child" thing, it's a new reset.

The laugh of a child, the slash of a knife, crushing blackness, and then...

Sans woke up slowly, as he usually did. There was no need to open his eyes. He knew what day it was, what time it was, what was going to happen. Everything was so predictable when it happened so many times in a row. It was warm in the room, like it always was. Not stifling, just pleasantly warm in a way that made him want to roll over under the sheets and just fall right back to sleep. He shouldn’t do that.

He rolled out of bed and picked up the same clothes he always did, immediately blipping out of the room and into the kitchen. He grabbed some toast and then went straight to his sentry station, scarfing down the toast right after he came out the other end. 

He sat down heavily, propping his feet up and leaning back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and relaxing back, taking his job about as seriously as he always did. 

_ Crack. _

Sans sat up quickly, managing not to fall out of his chair this time, as the portal manifested in front of him again. 

Well, if his mind had made it up, at least it was still doing it, right? 

He got up and came around the front of the sentry station, holding his hands up in surrender when, immediately upon appearing and spotting him, Ink’s eyes began to glow with magic. “Hey, take it easy, there. I’m not gonna attack you. Did you come alone this time?”

Ink regarded him for a moment before shaking his head and moving aside, allowing Blue to step through after him, followed by Comic. 

“Are we it?” he heard Comic ask quietly. 

“Yes. I doubt he will attack us, at least not immediately, and the three of us can handle something like that.”

“You know, I can hear you guys,” Sans called, causing Comic and Blue to grin while Ink regarded him with something like amusement. 

“You can put your arms down, we aren’t gonna restrain you this time,” Comic called back as he began to make his way closer, followed by the other two. Ink waved a hand vaguely behind them and the portal closed. “At least, as long as you don’t give us a reason to, right buddy?” Comic continued, coming to stop a few feet from Sans, who lowered his arms immediately. No reason to make himself look too weak. 

“So…” he said awkwardly, scratching at his jaw.

“So.” agreed Comic, his face lighting up in that infuriating smile again.

Sans glared at him, then turned his attention back to Ink before saying, “How long can you guys stay this time?”

Ink still seemed cautious, but not so much so that his tone was unfriendly as he replied, “About half an hour. It’ll increase exponentially with every visit though. And as I mentioned before, if you prove yourself to be trustworthy, you can go to the other accessible universes and break up the monotony a little.”

Sans nodded in understanding, then gestured for them to follow him. “Come on over here. It’s not a great idea to just hang out in the middle of the open path like this.” They all made their way over to the forest behind his sentry station and sat on this rock or another. 

There was another long and awkward pause before Blue piped up. “Do you have any questions left over from yesterday? Since you didn’t really seem to want to ask any then. But you seem much friendlier now!”

Sans looked at him, considering, then asked, “Is every version of me stuck in a loop like this?”

To his surprise, it was Blue who answered. “Not every Sans. I wasn’t ever stuck in one.”

“Why not?” Sans asked curiously. Why had this little guy gotten that lucky? And how could he make sure to do that?

“Well, my universe is what’s called a Swap universe, which means that everything is reversed, in a sense. So it was my brother that lived through the repeats, instead of me.” Blue explained.

“So...does your world not repeat anymore?”

Blue shook his head. “Oh, no, it does, it’s just that I only became aware of it when these guys came along and helped me remember.”

Sans couldn’t help the pain that lanced through his soul at that. Did that mean they could--

“Any other questions?” Ink asked softly. “We are going to have to leave soon.”

The question Sans wanted to ask more than anything got stuck in his throat. He couldn’t ask them about that. He barely knew them. That was a question that contained far more pain than he was willing to get into. 

“What do you mean, ‘Swap Universe’?” he asked. “And you said last time that I was from a Fell Universe?”

“There are different classifications of the universes,” Ink answered. “All of them stem from the original, so the different traits are named by their major differences from the main timeline. Swap, as Blue just said, is named that way because the roles of most people in the universe are swapped. Alphys and Undyne, Sans and Papyrus, Napstablook and Mettaton, etc etc. Fell is a different sort of classification that just means you come from a more violent world than the original. There are a very long list of classifications, and some worlds only have one while others have many.”

“How many does mine have?” Sans asked, easily wrapping his mind around what the other was telling him. He was a scientist, after all.

“Just one.”

“Huh,” he said, crinkling his brow in thought. Then he turned to Comic. “What are your classifications?” he asked.

Comic grinned. “Oh, I’m the original, actually. I don’t have any classifications.”

Sans just stared at him for a moment. Of fucking course. “So you’re what I’d be if I was a total pussy, then?” he asked politely. 

Comic raised an eyebrow at him. “Or you’re what I’d be if I was a violent asshole all the time, yeah,” he answered. 

“Okay, kids, break it up,” Ink sighed. 

Sans turned back to him, choosing to ignore the way Comic was grinning at him like a douchebag. “What about you, Ink?” he asked.

Ink gave a short laugh and rubbed the back of his skull absentmindedly. “I’m not really a part of the multiverse. I exist outside of it, as a bit of a...guiding force in the creation of new universes, I suppose?”

Sans looked him over, reassessing this monster yet again. He was as powerful as Sans had originally thought, then. If not more so. “So...you created...me?” he asked, the thought not quite as foreign to him as it might have been to a monster born naturally. 

“Oh, no. Not really. It’s more that I encourage your creators, and defend your world from being destroyed,” Ink answered, shaking his head. 

Sans scrunched up his nose. “Who exactly is going around trying to destroy universes?”

At his question, both Comic and Blue immediately directed their attention to Ink, as though wondering what he was going to say. 

“It’s complicated, and not really anything you need to worry about,” Ink said, tugging on his scarf slightly. “Anyway, we only have a few minutes left. Is there anything else?”

Sans regarded him silently for a moment, then decided it wasn’t worth pursuing and shook his head. He could almost feel the others’ disappointment at the unanswered question, but it really wasn’t worth the effort of convincing Ink to answer. 

“What is your world like?” asked Blue earnestly. 

“It sucks.” Sans answered shortly.

“But how?” he asked, and Sans turned to him with a look that would have made a lesser monster cower in fear. Blue, however, just kept looking at him innocently, waiting for an answer. 

“It’s kill or be killed here,” he finally answered. “And everything comes with the price it deserves.”

“The price it deserves?” Comic asked, sounding curious in spite of himself.

Sans sighed. “If I were to go and dust Alphys right now, Undyne would kill Papyrus.”

“Ah,”said Comic, nodding in understanding. “So it’s an eye for an eye kind of world.”

Sans nodded, then said, “And that combined with the kill or be killed mantra of this place doesn’t lead to a particularly relaxing life.”

They all seemed to think about that for a moment, then Ink said, “Interesting. Usually Fell worlds don’t have much of a sense of justice. The kill or be killed idea seems to be universal, but usually if someone is killed, there is not much grief to be shown.”

Sans narrowed his eyes at Ink. “Yeah, okay. Cool. I guess I’m super lucky then.” he said sarcastically. 

Ink didn’t deign to respond, instead standing and pulling his paintbrush from where it was attached to his back. He swung it in an arc in the direction of the path, and a portal opened up. “It’s time for us to go now. If you have any goodbyes, say them now.”

Almost immediately, Sans found himself wrapped up in a tight hug, the smell of cilantro and tobacco smoke enveloping him. He looked down in surprise, finding Blue tucked into his chest with his arms wrapped around Red’s middle. He just stood there stiffly for a moment, trying to decide if he should hug him back, before Blue pulled back and smiled hugely at him. “Goodbye! We’ll see you next reset!” he said happily, as though the idea actually appealed to him. 

Red couldn’t help the fact that he smiled back. “Yeah…” he said quietly, “Yeah, I’ll see you then, just..let go of me.”

Blue laughed slightly and let go, bouncing over to stand beside Ink, and all eyes turned to Comic. 

When he realized everyone was looking at him, he shrugged and said, “I’m not huggin’ ya, buddy. But I’ll be seeing you next time, too.” Then he made a gesture that almost would have been a salute if it hadn’t been so disrespectful. 

Then they were gone, and Red was alone. He took a deep breath, then turned to his sentry station. It was going to be a long couple of days.

 

The laugh of a child, the slash of a knife, crushing blackness, and then...

Sans woke up much quicker than he usually did, opening his eyes. He knew what day it was, what time it was. Everything had gotten kind of predictable after it happened so many times in a row. It was warm in the room, like it always was. Not stifling, just pleasantly warm in a way that used to make him want to go right back to sleep. Today, though, he felt different.

He rolled out of bed and picked up the same clothes he always did, immediately blipping out of the room and into the kitchen. He grabbed some toast and ate it quickly before taking a shortcut to his sentry station.

He sat on the edge of the seat behind the little counter, eyes trained on the spot where they had appeared last time.

_ Crack _ .

Trying not to appear too eager, he stood and walked closer, trying to fight the smile that was trying to make its way onto his face. 

Comic stepped through first this time, followed quickly by Blue, then Comic shut the portal behind them before turning back to face Sans.

“Where’s Ink?” he asked, not entirely unhappy with this new development.

“Eh, he just got caught up with some stuff. Figured we’d be fine on our own. It’s not like you’re much of a threat.”

“Hey, fuck you.”

“Language!” said Blue, and Sans turned to look at him in confusion. 

“He does that,” said Comic lazily.

There was less than a second of awkward silence before Blue said, “Well, what do you guys want to do this time? Can we explore?”

Sans was quick to put an end to that train of thought. “This world is dangerous, you fu--dingus!” he said, doing his best to glare at Blue and failing miserably. 

Blue wasn’t at all fazed. “Okay! What about walking? Does walking in the woods where it isn’t as dangerous count as exploring?”

“I mean, I guess not--”

Blue immediately set off into the forest, causing Red and Sans to swear almost in tandem and take a half-step after him before realizing what had just happened. “Don’t...don’t ever say  _ anything _ at the same time as me ever again,” Comic hissed, looking somewhat scandalized.

Sans flipped him off and shuddered slightly before jogging into the forest to find Blue before he got himself killed.

He followed the footprints the other had left behind, Comic trailing quietly behind him. Blue didn’t seem to be putting in any effort at all to hide his trail, and Sans cursed under his breath and sped up when he saw a new set of tracks join the set they were following. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Comic, suddenly keeping pace with him as they practically ran through the woods. 

“Someone’s following him. The little shit is going to get himself fucking killed,” hissed Sans, trying to stay quiet as he followed the trails. Comic cursed as well, then picked up the pace again. 

The other set of tracks faded out to the side, and Sans heard Comic let out a sigh of relief. Sans knew better, however, and he began checking their surroundings, looking for any sign of the little berry. He could see neither his alternate nor his pursuer, but that didn’t really--

“Boo!” came Blue’s voice from beside him, making him jump slightly. Comic laughed loudly, probably about to mock Sans, but he stopped when Sans threw a hand into the air, a clear call for silence. 

There was a low growl surrounding them, and Sans braced himself as he heard it shifting closer. 

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, motherfucker,” he snarled, planting his feet and facing towards the sound. “The name’s Sans the skeleton, bitch. Wanna try your luck?”. In a show of aggression and power, he let his huge reserves of attack magic flare, creating several blasters to float in the air behind him.

The growling stopped for a moment, then the monster that was stalking them snarled loudly. Then Sans heard quiet footsteps fading into the forest, and he let himself relax, dissipating the magic and turning back to the other two. 

Comic was completely expressionless, looking at him as though he was reassessing a first impression. Blue, however, had a huge grin across his face and his blue eyelights had morphed themselves into stars. “Can you teach me how to do that?” he asked, sounding like a babybones who’d just witnessed Undyne and Papyrus spar. 

“Uhh…” Sans started, glancing at Comic for guidance. None was forthcoming, however, except for a slight shake of his head, so Sans turned back to the smaller and said, “I dunno, Blue. Maybe sometime. Right now, though, we need to keep moving, and you need to fuckin’ stay with us this time.”

Blue’s smile dropped and he put his hands on his hips in a gesture that was so reminiscent of Papyrus that Sans took a step back. “Please watch your language!” he insisted. 

Sans sighed deeply and Comic snorted, then they set off into the forest, Sans keeping a careful eye out for any more pursuers. 

Blue seemed excited by every new thing they found, his eyes staying in their star-shaped ridiculousness as he flitted from tree to bush to flower, taking it in. Sans had no basis to go by, but he was pretty sure that their worlds weren’t different enough to merit this much excitement. Maybe this was just how Blue was. 

Comic just walked silently beside them, occasionally making puns and causing Blue to frown at him for a split second before finding some new thing that brought back his huge smile. 

“How long have you guys known each other?” Sans asked Comic quietly after one such exchange. He would never admit to being jealous, but the easy friendship with which they seemed to regard each other was something he hadn’t had in a very long time.

“Oh, I just met him a couple resets before we came here for the first time. I don’t tend to get very involved in this multiverse stuff. I prefer my own world,” Comic replied. 

Sans tried not to let his surprise show. “Huh. You act like you’ve known each other forever.” 

Comic smiled softly as they watched Blue’s excitement, something almost sad in his eyes. “He’s a lot like my brother,” he said. “He’s like you, only one classification, so there’s not much messing with it like there is with Razz or Strawberry.”

“Okay,” Sans said, holding up a hand, “I’m gonna want you to explain better what you mean here in a second, but what the hell is up with all these stupid names? I mean... _S_ _ trawberry? _ What the hell is that?”

Comic snorted. “I know, right? But Strawberry is under the Lust classification so I try not to think all that hard about it.”

“...Lust...classification…?”

“You don’t even want to know.”

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Blue, seemed to pop out of nowhere between them. 

They both stared at him for a second before their eyes met, then Comic blurted out, “He needs a name!”

“ _ What?” _ Sans asked, incredulous. “Why the hell would I need a name? I already have one of those, if you haven't noticed.”

“Why, the same reason as any of us do, silly!” Blue answered easily. “We’re all technically named Sans, but we can’t all be Sans at the same time! That would get confusing! So we all choose names!”

Sans glared at Comic, who just shrugged. “What do you think, bud? Got one you’d like?”

“Sandstorm superfuck” Red answered, pulling out the most random shit he could think of.

Blue made a face, probably about to reprimand him for his language, but then his face lit up. “Oh! What if you were Red?”

“Red?”

“Yeah! Then you could match me! We’d be like buddies!” Blue exclaimed happily. Sans found himself looking down at the other’s adorable face and resigned himself to a stupid name. 

“Yeah, okay. I’ll be Red.”

Blue squealed with joy, and Red very pointedly ignored the amused look Comic was giving him. They resumed following their smaller double, who was still very excited and seemed determined to see every single nook and cranny of Red’s entire world.

“What’s that?” he heard Blue ask happily, and Red followed his pointing finger, just barely making out a small cave in the side of a large rock face. 

“I don’t know. Never seen it before.”

“How have you never seen it before?” Comic asked, “You live here.”

Red just shrugged. “Never really explored is all.”

Blue started running towards it, his excitment rubbing off on both of the others. “Let’s go check it out!” he exclaimed.

 

The laugh of a child, the slash of a knife, crushing blackness, and then...

Red woke up quickly and sat up. It was pleasantly warm in a way that used to make him want to go right back to sleep, but today he wanted to get to work. He snorted. Now that was new.

He rolled out of bed and picked up the same clothes he always did, then he blipped down to the kitchen and grabbed some toast, putting it on a napkin to take with him before taking a shortcut to his sentry station.

He set down the breakfast, not even bothering to sit down as he awaited the others. He was eating absentmindedly when he heard the familiar  _ crack _ .

“Hey, so I was thinking,” he said before Comic had even closed the portal. “Why don’t we go back to that place we found yesterday? We could check out that cave? How long are you staying this time?”

“Whoa, there, hang on! Let us catch our breath!” Comic laughed.

“We can stay almost a whole day this time!” Blue said, obviously excited, as Comic closed the portal and did whatever constituted as catching his breath for a skeleton that didn’t need to breathe. 

Blue started to run off into the forest again before Red grabbed onto his arm. “Don’t even think about it, sweetheart. We’re not doing that again,” he said. 

There was a long pause before Comic burst into laughter. “ _ Sweetheart?” _ he managed to choke out.

“You got a problem?” Red growled, trying not to notice the bright smile across Blue’s face. “It’s just somethin’ we say around here.”

“Does anyone say it except you?” Comic wheezed. He had gotten himself laughing so hard he had stumbled into Red’s sentry station and was having to hold himself up.

“Comic, I think you’re being a little overdramatic,” Blue piped up, still grinning ear to ear. 

“Oh for fuck’s sake, let’s just go.” Red growled as Comic started to calm down, and he stomped into the forest, pulling Blue behind him. 

Comic caught up to them quickly, and thankfully, he didn’t say anything about the fact that Red still had ahold of Blue’s wrist. 

They made their way in the direction of the “secret cave”, Blue chattering quietly about his brother and his training and how excited he was to introduce Red to all of his friends if they ever got the chance. When the cave came into sight, Blue gently freed his arm from Red’s grasp and ran ahead, clearly excited to be able to spend more time there. Red found himself smiling, glancing at Comic and finding that he wore the same expression. For once, though, he didn’t much mind the similarities.

 

The laugh of a child, the sunset over a cliff, rare happiness, and then...

Red woke up quickly and sat up, rolling out of bed and putting on some clothes. He glanced back at his brother, smoothing the blanket under his chin carefully. Then he blipped straight to the cave. He wasn’t really hungry today. 

“Hey Red!”

They had apparently beat him there, but it couldn’t have been too long because the portal was still open. 

Blue, the one who had greeted Red when he appeared, seemed very excited. Comic was sitting leaned up against the cave wall, eyes half closed like he was about to go to sleep. 

“Hi Blue, hi lazyass”

“Pot, meet kettle. Kettle, pot,” Comic mumbled.

“Red! Language! And we have a surprise for you!”

Red gasped loudly and clasped his hands under his chin like he’d seen Blue do several times. “Is Comic leaving and never coming back?”

Blue’s mouth twitched like he was trying not to smile, and Comic snorted loudly and tried to throw an empty ketchup packet at Red. 

As the packet sadly fluttered to the floor several feet from its target, Blue spoke up again. “Ink gave us permission to take you to Comic’s universe.”

“Wow, man, that was just--” Red started, then he choked when he heard what Blue had said. “Wait,  _ what?” _

“We’re taking you to Comic’s universe!” Blue said, smiling at him happily. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn't catch the note on my OSC, the fact that I updated this today means that I won't be updating CrushingOn Stupid One-Shots today. But you can expect an update from that as usual tomorrow!


	4. A Different World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fuck this chapter. Just fuck it. I've literally been trying to finish it for months and it's _still_ a piece of shit and I'm giving the fuck up, just take it lol

He was leaving. 

He was  _ leaving! _

He was finally getting out of this piece of shit corner of the multiverse, and he was  _ LEAVING. _

He was pretty sure he was going to have to come back at some point. He chose to ignore that, as it filled him with all kinds of emotions he didn’t have any desire at all to deal with. 

Red grinned and held out his hand, which Blue immediately took, and Comic set about summoning the portal. 

The three of them stepped through and into an almost identical version of the same place they’d been. 

“Here,” said Comic, sticking out both of his elbows so that he looked like he was trying to impersonate a strange bird. Red just stared at him for a moment before Blue grabbed onto one of the extended elbows, motioning for Red to do the same.

“Wanna go to Grillby’s?” Comic asked him, and Blue smacked him on the arm. “I’m not going to Grillby’s just so that you two can get drunk and I get stuck being the designated driver!”

Sans grinned. “You know, we don’t actually have to drive. You could always just--”

“Don’t even!” Blue said, cutting him off. Red grinned at the exchange. “Take us to your house, I want to introduce Red to Papyrus!”

Red only had a moment to be apprehensive before Comic shrugged and took them through a shortcut, landing in the middle of a living room much like Red’s own.

The black and red carpet had been replaced with a blue and purple one, and the photos on top of the TV were gone, replaced with nothing but dusty air, but for the most part… 

A loud voice rang out from the kitchen, making Red jump far more than it really should have. 

“SANS? IS THAT YOU?”

Comic grinned at the two of them, extracting his arms and moving in the direction of the kitchen door. “Yeah, bro. I brought guests.”

There was a loud gasp of delight as Comic disappeared from view, and Blue started to tug Red in the direction of the kitchen. He tried not to drag his heels, he truly did, but he really didn’t want to go near enough for the owner of that voice to touch him.

Blue didn’t seem to notice Red’s dilemma, and they rounded the corner, coming face-to-face, or, rather, face-to-armor, with another skeleton. 

Red took a deep breath and looked up, only to find his brother’s face smiling down at him. Except...not… 

This Papyrus was softer. His cheekbones and chin were rounded, his armor was white instead of black, and his eyes literally seemed to be sparkling. 

“Uh…” Red said, eloquently. “Hi. My name is Red.”

The not-Papyrus straightened his shoulders, posing with one hand pressed to his chest and using his magic to make his scarf blow out behind him. “AND I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! IT IS AN HONOR TO MEET YOU, FRIEND OF MY BROTHER!”

Red blinked at that. Brother? Papyrus always called him his partner (or his “asshole of a partner”, depending on who he was talking to and what kind of mood he was in). Maybe Comic’s world just wasn’t as accepting as his, for whatever reason. Even in UnderFell, they’d gotten some judgement, being brothers and all, but Papyrus’s reputation quickly squashed that. 

“AND I AM THE MAGN-THE SANSATIONAL BLUE!” 

Red winced slightly from Blue’s voice blasting directly in his ear. Standing next to him was always an adventure. 

As the two of them exchanged their greetings, Red crossed the room to where Comic was leaning casually against the counter, watching the two of them and grinning widely. 

“Well, he’s certainly...friendly,” Red supplied, and Comic snorted. 

“Yeah, he’s always like that. Don’t go thinkin’ you’re special or anything,” he replied, accompanying it with a wink to let Red know he was joking. “I don’t suppose your brother is like that, is he? What with you having a Fell world and all.”

Red shook his head. “Not with strangers, at least. He’ll greet me happily enough, though,” he said, smiling tightly. 

Comic didn’t seem to notice, however, and just nodded, still watching Blue and Not-Papyrus chatting animatedly.

“Hey, you know what would be funny?”

Red turned to Comic, already half-dreading his next sentence. That was never a question that ended well. “What?” he asked.

“Getting Blue drunk.”

Red just stared at him for a second before letting out a deep sigh. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Not at all. Just think of it! He’s already so out there, you have to wonder if it would calm him down or just make it all worse, you know?”

“Comic, I’m fairly certain he’s never even tasted alcohol before.”

“Well, I mean, there’s a first time for everything, right? We can just take him to Grillby’s and--”

“Absolutely not! I’m not going to let myself get stuck taking care of a drunk Blue while you go off and fail at flirting with the bartender!”

“Fail?!” Comic pressed a hand over his chest like he’d been personally affronted. “The Magnificent Sans never fails at flirting with hot bartenders!”

Red chuckled lightly. “Don’t call yourself that, you sound like an idiot.”

“I mean, so does he, but it’s never stopped him before.”

“No,” said Red, laughing harder now, “No, he’s adorable. You just sound stupid.”

Sans huffed and pretended to pout. “Well,  _ I’m so sorry _ I don’t have stars in my eyes and a little voice and tiny feet. I can still be cute, damn it!”

“LANGUAGE, SANS!”

They both looked over guiltily to find Not-Papyrus standing with his hands on his hips and looking very stern. Blue, however, was blushing profusely, grinning at Red like he was one of the wonders of the world. Red looked away quickly, not entirely sure how to react to the fact that Blue had heard.

“Sorry, bro. Won’t do it again.”

Not-Papyrus heaved a long sigh, for all the world sounding like he had just lost a relative to the fever. “YES, YOU WILL. BUT NO MATTER, FOR I LOVE YOU ANYWAY!”

Comic’s entire face turned dark blue, and Red looked at him curiously. There was no way he was still in the honeymoon stage of their relationship, he’d been through at least as many if not more resets than Red himself had. 

“Hey, Paps, do you mind if I introduce my friends to the wonders of Snowdin’s most famous bar and grill?” Comic was asking, his blush having mostly faded. Blue gave him a look, but he ignored it completely in favor of waiting for Not-Papyrus’s response.

“I SUPPOSE, BROTHER, BUT DO NOT STAY OUT TOO LATE! YOU NEED TO GO TO WORK IN THE MORNING, WHAT IF THERE IS A HUMAN?!”

All three Sanses shuddered before Comic grinned and winked at his brother. “‘Course, bro. I’ll be back before too long!” And with that, he grabbed the others and transported them directly in front of Grillby’s.

 

Red had learned a lot of things about his alternates over the course of the past several resets. He spent practically all of his time with them, talking to them and asking about other worlds. Blue, especially, tended to almost over-share, answering every one of his questions in explicit detail and leaving him wondering if he ever should have asked at all.

Today, he had learned that Blue was even more stubborn than he ever would have thought, and that Comic was an emotional drunk. 

He pushed the front door open, stepping into his house as quietly as he could before closing it behind him. The kitchen light was on, but all was quiet, and Red wondered, for a moment, if his brother was gone. It had happened before, when Red left for an entire reset without leaving a note. He had returned at the end to find his brother gone, apparently searching the entire underground for him. He’d always been sure to leave a note after that. The last thing he wanted was for him to worry. 

Upon arriving at Grillby’s, Blue immediately made it known that the only beverage he would be partaking in was the decadent vanilla milkshake at the bottom of the menu. Comic expressed his disappointment by snorting like he wouldn’t have expected anything different, and ordering his “usual”

Red peeked into the kitchen, unsurprised to find it empty, and flipped the light off before making his careful way up the stairs. The stairs creaked slightly, as they always did, and he paused at the top to make sure his brother hadn’t woken up. All was silent, and he continued on, pushing the door open and peeking into his brother’s room. Reassured by the calm rise and fall of the sheets, he closed the door, leaning forward and resting his forehead against the wood. 

Apparently Sans was an over-sharer when he was drunk, as well. Normally, he was...well, not  _ quiet, _ exactly, but secretive. Reserved, in a sense. That hadn’t lasted long once he got going. 

_ Y’know, Red, I’ve always kinda wondered why you never talk about your brother. Is he...is he a good guy? Yeah? Okay, good. You’ve just got a lot of scars and sometimes I wonder… Well, never mind that, if you say you’re good I’m gonna trust you. My brother is… well, he’s his own person, that’s for sure. But I just can’t help but...but l-love him, y’know? _

Descending the stairs quietly was a lot harder than ascending them quietly had been, but Red made do, crossing the living room and sitting on the couch before drawing his knees up to his chest. The revelation that Comic and his brother were only brothers wasn't as surprising as it probably should have been.

_ I don’t know how things work in your world. In Blue’s world, they don’t really...they don’t think brothers should love each other, not like that. But damn it if I don’t love Paps, with all my damn h-heart, y’know? He...he doesn’t remember it though, when I tell him. He loves me, but...I fucked it up when I had the chance, and now...I’m just so tired, guys. So fuckin tired… _

How was Red supposed to tell him that his brother loved him, and that he woke up, every single reset, wrapped in his arms? And how was he supposed to tell him that it made him feel so incredibly  _ wrong _ ? That he’d lost the spark that Comic was desperate for, that he would give anything to give up what Comic would give anything to have?

_ I did try, you know? A few times. But it just hurt so damn much, to reset, and to lose him, over and over and fucking over again! So I just...I gave up. I gave the fuck up.  _

Red loved his brother, more than anything. He wouldnt hesitate to die for him. In fact, he had died for him, countless times. But over the course of so many repeats, he had gotten so tired of the same things being said, over and over and over again. He didn't know exactly when he had stopped wanting to be with his brother, but even his guilt after Slippers' confession hadnt changed his mind.

He had broken Papyrus's heart so many times now. He didn't even bother anymore. He just left, a note on the table to keep him from panicking.

Why was something he had once treasured so deeply now something he hated? 

Red remembered the way his brother woke every reset, snoring softly, mouth open, drooling fairly heavily. There had been a time, resets upon resets ago, when Red's heart would have warmed at the mere sight of the "great and terrible" Papyrus drooling in his sleep, trusting him enough to be so vulnerable.

Resets upon resets ago, Red had loved his brother more than life itself. Papyrus had been his one hope, his one reason to keep going, to keep trying.

But then it had just kept resetting. And Boss said the same things, did the same things, loved Red in all the same ways, and he had just gotten so...tired.

He had lost count of how many times he had stood in the doorway and looked back at a sleeping, drooling Papyrus. For the first couple hundred, he had loved the sight more than anything. His heart had swelled and his soul had felt so full it could have burst. Red didn't know exactly when it had gone away, but there came a time when he had stood in the doorway and realized that he hated everything about this. He hated waking up next to his brother, he hated lying to him, he hated pretending to love someone he hadnt loved that way in what had to be years. He had stood in the doorway and stared until he couldn't stand the sight, and then he had walked away, back to the same life he'd always had, back to the repeated conversations and the echoed actions.

Then something new had finally happened. A portal had opened and he had been greeted by himself, of all things. He found something new to live for, and he hadn’t even paused in the doorway anymore as he raced towards his next adventure.

Red wrapped his arms around his knees, staring blankly at the wall. 

What would Comic think if he knew how much of a fuck-up Red was? What would...what would  _ Blue _ think? 

What should he do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a look into Sans' experiences with resets and loving his brother, go [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8585845/chapters/19978612)!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not going to be finishing this story, feel free to pick up where I left off and link me so I can read it!  
> With this one I do have a specific storyline planned. You are welcome to take off with your own story but if you would like to follow my plan, please let me know!
> 
> Also, if you would like to know how I planned to end this story, leave a comment down below and I would be happy to tell you.


End file.
